Follow the steps given below so that you can crop your Photo/Embedded image as you desired/required in Illustrator.

1) Select the Photo/Image you want to Crop then press Ctrl+Shift +Alt +2 to lock all objects other than you selected.

2) Make a clipping mask of your Photo/Embedded image as you required.

3)Choose the "Group Selection Tool" from the Tools palette and choose View>Outline or press Ctrl + Y. It will change your screen to Outline mode. Now select your clipping path(which you created to make a clipping mask) using the "Group Selection Tool" then "Copy" and "Paste in Front" or simply doing by shortcut Ctrl + C and Ctrl + F. Dont Forget to bring back your screen to the Normal mode by using the same shortcut Ctrl + Y.

4)Now fill the path with white ensure the stroke should be none.

5)Choose Window>Transparency and choose the "Multiply" from Blending Mode then make a Opacity to 0%.

6)Choose Select>All or press Ctrl + A.

7)Choose Object>Flatten Transparency give 100 to the Raster/Vector Balance next give desired resolution to LineArt and Gradient Mesh then Check off for all other options and press OK.

You should be able to create a Clipping Mask containing one Clipping Path (the rectangle) on top of one or more objects (raster images, vector artwork, whatever), by selecting all and then use the dropdown Object>Clipping Mask>Make or the keyboard combination Alt/Option+O+M+M (hold Alt/Option and press O then M then M).

You're right, it's a lot of discussion for a task that's as simple as cmd7. However, to be honest, a clipping path would not be my first instinct as a new user. Especially with the Crop tool in Photoshop.

the illustrator was built for vector files u cant crop a pixel photo in a vector software but you can make a clipping mask u have to choose the object and the shape u want tp crop ( the shape must be on the photo ) and then click shift + 7

Because Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based design system, you can't crop a picture in Illustrator the same way you can in Adobe photoshop. But you can use a clipping mask and opacity mask to crop a picture and photo.

There are a few Adobe resources out there that show you how to use masks to get an effect similar to cropping in Illustrator, including videos and text explanations. We have now started experimenting with a new format: Visual Tutorials, which use illustrations and minimal text to teach you a technique. If you are wondering how to "crop" an image in Illustrator, follow the Visual Tutorial for creating a mask.

If you only want to crop the image in a rectangle, then the quickest way is in CS5 or greater to click the MASK button in the top tool information section (between Trace and Opacity). This creates mask immediately the same size as the image. Then you can click the two smaller toolbar buttons on the very left (if the masked object is selected) to toggle between the mask (clipping path) and the raster image. This allows you to independently size/change each one.

Shape Crop

The second method is a bit more steps, but you create any shape you want, e.g. draw a polyline or use the pen tool and refine your outline. Once you are happy with the outline, select both the outline and the raster image and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make in the menu (or CMD+7 on Mac).

In both cases, Illustrator creates a mask group and in the Layers you will be able to select the mask and the image and move/change them separately (on most older versions as well). You can also copy new images into the mask by double-clicking into the mask group and then pasting a new image. This is handy when you have a lot of evenly sized thumbnails and you want to first line them up and then one by one replace their images inside the masks.

What's also good is to drag a file onto the art board, then illustrator creates a linked file, which can be updated without including it directly into your illustrator file.

If you are on a Mac, and you are running Mavericks, you can also use Preview's built in tools for cropping, auto-background removal, lasso and smart lasso (via the editing options), which all are very easy to use and is very quick (no Photoshop required).

Clipping paths and masks can be temporarily applied, and then released from release (accessible in the objects panel). This can restrict parts of the image for viewing, or make them viewable again layer. Here is a link to a video explanation: click here

Go to view --> show edges or use (control H or cmd H)

Press V on the keyboard (brings up selection tool), then click the picture you are wanting to crop

Somewhere on the screen (probably top), a mask button appears on top of the control panel

Click the Mask button (in that control panel) --> creates a clipping mask

Two buttons at the far left of the same panel that had clipping mask button show up (far most left-two buttons). after you click the first of those buttons, use (keyboard a shortcut) to start clicking anchor points at the far-most cornersof the image

After selecting topmost anchor points, use shortcut shift down.

You can select any edge (made of at least two of those anchor points (and use shift key + UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT aft)

ANOTHER TRICK= OPACITY MASK

Use the shape drawing tools (i.e. ellipse tool) --> then use a white fill color (optimally)

Create white circle atop the car (or above the vector artwork)

Use V key to select the white ellipse, then shift select the car to select the image behind the ellipse, and then open the transparency option (window panel ==> transparency panel)

Within the transparency panel, expanding the menu that appears, and select the make mask button, which allows you to see ONLY WHAT YOU HAVE IN THE FILLED SHAPE or ellipse (as shown in the video linked at the top).

you can adjust the mask or the artwork you are trying to restrict and also, you can release any of these clipping masks

Advantages over cropping:

In the video, you can actually modulate some property of the clipping mask (say add a gradient and opacity mask), which actually saves you some time by allowing you to not only crop, but change the entire image, and making it easy to release that mask so your raw materials are usually in tact.